Mo Hamilton - ‘The 100 Houses Project: Reflections on Our Times’
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Island Mountain Arts Gallery and School PO Box 65 , Wells, British Columbia V0K 2R0
Mo Hamilton, "The 100 Houses Project: Reflections on Our Times," 2019
Mo Hamilton is a multidisciplinary artist from Prince George, BC, influenced by notions of displacement, resulting from frequent moves to and from numerous Canadian communities over the last decade.
Island Mountain Arts (located at 2323 Pooley St, Wells, BC) is pleased to announce Mo’s exhibition launch and artist talk on Friday, January 25th at 7pm. This free opening event includes the artist’s discussion of her recent solo exhibition, ‘The 100 Houses Project: Reflections on Our Times’ features 100 linocut prints.
The exhibition presents the completion of her long-term art process of one hundred works titled ‘The 100 Houses Project’. This large collection of works explores the theme of what home means, and tells a story of how humans adapt to changes, whether they are by displacement from political upheaval, forest fires, climate change, or economics.
“I chose the symbol of the house because home represents our sense of self and is an expression of our personal identity. To come home is to have a refuge from all outward expectations and to be home is where we can be our truest selves. We all have this need for deep belonging but sometimes events beyond our control disrupt our security and sense of place. The 100 Houses project was inspired by a dream that I had that I was living in a house on a bridge. My family and I were moving to the town of Terrace in Northern BC from Castlegar in the Kootenay Mountain Region the next day, so I thought the house was very symbolic of how I was neither here nor there yet. I was very much in that in-between place. I think it is important as an artist to listen to your intuition and follow the ideas in your head and heart, to trust, to engage, create, and explore them,” explains Mo.
Mo employs fabric, collage, and printmaking to weave personal narratives to communicate an inward vision into her mixed-media paintings and found-object assemblages. Island Mountain Arts was excited to invite Mo to exhibit this show in the gallery as she has had a strong connection with both the town and Island Mountain Arts for over a decade! She has been accepted into, and partaken in two nine-day Toni Onley Artist Project mentorships, and more recently experienced a five-day self-directed art retreat in IMA’s artist-in-residency building, ’The Nest’, situated in Wells this past Fall. Mo explains that she finds the place a great space for creative renewal and exploration.
In addition to her exhibition, Mo will be facilitating two workshops; ‘Children's Block Printing Workshop’ for the students who attend Wells-Barkerville Elementary School on Friday January 25th, & ‘Block Printing on Fabric and Surface Design’ weekend workshop on the 26th and 27th of January.